Kakuzu subconsciously looked at the pile, and when he recognized the familiar faces, he fell silent. To him, it was not a pile of corpses but a pile of gold.
"Heh." After a moment, he snorted and said, "Any organization that can take in a monster like you must have plenty of chances to fight bounty targets."
"Fine, I will treat it as a temporary place to stay." As he spoke, Kakuzu stood up again and pointed at the one handed axe behind him. "Of course, that is only if you help me carry this cursed thing out."
At the same time, on the rocky wall of the Abyss, everyone pushed their speed to the limit. They turned into afterimages and rushed madly toward the faint light above, the only Lie leading back to the surface.
After the bloody battle in the Underground Palace and witnessing the slaughter, they now moved like cornered beasts. Though they still distrusted one another, escaping this place was their only shared goal.
Just before reaching the Lie, the rapidly ascending Yunchuan Hyuga suddenly stopped. Seeing this, Kakashi Hatake, whom he was carrying and who wore a look of dead fish eyes, froze in surprise.
"Yunchuan, what is wrong?" he asked. Yunchuan Hyuga did not answer and only looked downward.
In the next moment, Zhe Long flashed past him without hesitation and rushed straight out of the Lie. "Hahaha! I am out!"
As the darkness turned to light, Zhe Long's eyes adjusted. The instant his feet touched level ground, a violent figure wrapped in blinding lightning tore in from afar.
Zhe Long did not even see the face of the figure, only a streak of blue at the edge of his vision. "Lariat!"
Fourth Raikage's roar exploded like thunder, and an elbow strike filled with raging Lightning Release Chakra slammed forward with overwhelming force. The feral grin on Zhe Long's face froze in that instant.
A deafening boom rang out, like a mountain collapsing. Clothes, flesh, and bone around his waist shattered at the moment of impact, bursting apart with dense cracking sounds.
His bones collapsed as if crushed by a giant rock, breaking into fragments like a sack smashed flat by an invisible hammer. Blood mixed with bits of organs sprayed from his mouth as his body was sent flying.
He crashed into solid rock, leaving a deep crater webbed with cracks. His limbs were twisted at unnatural angles, with broken bone and mangled flesh clearly visible. He twitched weakly, coughing up blood, like a dead fish stripped of its bones.
Blood poured from all his orifices. With just one move, a notorious Jashin Cult cult leader was crushed to the brink of death.
This was the power of Fourth Raikage. "Now tell me what happened down there," he said as he stopped and looked at Zhe Long.
Before the words fully settled, a white streak shot out from behind him. He turned instinctively and saw Yunchuan Hyuga hovering in the air with wings spread.
"Those wings..." Fourth Raikage's pupils shrank as his suspicion was confirmed.
As expected, Yugito Nii and the others had entered the Underground Palace, and there were indeed treasures inside. "Kid, you should know who I am. Get down here yourself."
He stared coldly at Yunchuan Hyuga above, as well as Kakashi Hatake and the other Konoha ninja in his grasp. "So it is Fourth Raikage," Yunchuan Hyuga said calmly. "Why not guess whether you can stop me at my speed?"
"And guess again what I will do at your Kumogakure garrison if you cannot." At those words, Kakashi Hatake snapped his head up at Yunchuan Hyuga, eyes widening in disbelief.
"You are courting death!" Fourth Raikage's face darkened as he roared, bending his knees and gathering strength.
With his power and speed, a single hit would swat Yunchuan Hyuga out of the air. But Yunchuan Hyuga gave him no chance, and his wings flared as he fired the Feather Blades.
Sharp gusts swept through the air, rippling the space around them. Fourth Raikage did not take it seriously, confident that most Wind Release Ninjutsu could not break his defense in this state.
Just as he finished charging and prepared to leap, the feathers struck him. Fine wounds appeared, stinging sharply.
"How is that possible?" Fourth Raikage stiffened. "Those things can actually do this?" At that moment, the others rushed out of the Lie.
Aside from Yugito Nii and the Kumogakure ninja, everyone else paled when they saw Fourth Raikage. "Run!"
With a shout, they scattered in all directions. Fourth Raikage moved to pursue, only to find the broken wind swirling around him had transformed into countless blades.
The shrill howl of the wind surrounded him as the blades raked across his chest, neck, and head. "Annoying!"
Though they did little damage, they stirred his anger, veins bulging on his forehead as a savage aura burst from him. With a roar, the wind blades were blasted away.
When he looked up again, Yunchuan Hyuga was gone, and so were the others. Even the badly wounded Zhe Long had vanished. The raging Lightning Release Chakra around Fourth Raikage hummed as he breathed heavily, his fury barely contained.
Soon, he forced himself to calm down and realized he had been provoked into loss of composure. "Yugito Nii!"
He turned sharply toward Yugito Nii and the other Kumogakure ninja. "Send people to chase those who took the items, and notify the ninja units stationed in the Land of Moon to guard against aerial movement." That kid from the Hyuga Clan was up to something, and he intended to find out.
"Ugh… cough… cough…"
A suppressed, painful groan echoed through the deep, damp corridor, hoarse as if his lungs were being torn apart. The sound bounced off the narrow stone passage, carrying misery with every breath.
This place was an entrance known only to Zhe Long himself, a path that no one else in the entire Jashin Cult knew existed. Even within the Akatsuki, it was a secret buried in darkness.
The air was thick with a stench like blood that had soaked into stone for years without ever fully drying. Torches were set into the walls at intervals, their flames flickering weakly.
The unsteady firelight cast dim yellow shadows that looked ready to be swallowed by the darkness at any moment. Wherever the light passed, ugly scratch marks and dark red bloodstains could be seen on the walls and floor.
It was clear that countless people had been dragged in here alive by Zhe Long. Today, however, it was finally his turn.
"Live… cough… I will not die…"
Barely recognizable as human, Zhe Long clung to the cold, slick wall with his one remaining arm. Inch by inch, he dragged himself forward through the darkness.
Beneath him, a dark red smear like the trail of a crawling reptile stretched forward under the torchlight, releasing a strong smell of blood. Every movement shifted broken bones and shredded organs inside his chest, inflicting agony that would make an ordinary person faint instantly.
Even Zhe Long, long used to pain, could not stop his muscles from spasming as blood foam spilled from the corner of his mouth. The healing power granted by the so called Evil God acted like the most vicious shackle, forcibly keeping his shattered body from collapsing completely.
An intense will to survive became the only force driving Zhe Long forward. It was the last thing he had left.
"Hah… hah… Lord Jashin… will bless me…"
The hoarse muttering rolled out of Zhe Long's throat like sandpaper scraping stone. His eyes were unfocused from pain and blood loss, with only a flicker of madness trembling deep in his pupils.